Orissa Government rejects National Tiger Census

Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik has rejected the national tiger census figures released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). According to the relased figures, Orissa has less than 60 tigers with Similipal National Park housing less than 30. However, the CM refuted the claim, saying Simplipal alone has more than 100 tigers. Interesting, Naveen Patnaik himself heads the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

The Chief Minister has decided to lodge a strong objection with the Ministry of Environment as well as the Wildlife Institute of India for this inaccurate census figures. He also asked other states to reject the census figures. The NTCA tiger census figures say that there are only an estimated 1,411 tigers left in the wild in India, less than half the number found in the 2002 census.